How to check word count in Microsoft Word – 3 tips

Microsoft Word has evolved over the years, adding all kinds of new features to make you more productive. But regardless of how many bells and whistles Word brings, few features will be as useful as word processing. This article is about how to check word count in Microsoft Word.

The word count shows you how many words you have in your book, as well as the number of pages, letters, lines, and even paragraphs. Whatever you’re writing – essays, books, articles – knowing your word count is important.

Fortunately, Microsoft Word offers three quick ways to check word count. Here’s how to use each.

How to check word count in Microsoft Word

The easiest way to check your word count is to scroll down.

By default, you can see your current word count in a small box in the lower left corner of every Microsoft Word window. It is located next to the page number.

If you don’t see it here, right-click the bar at the bottom of your screen and make sure the word count is checked.

You can click this number to open the Word Count menu, which lists the number of characters, paragraphs and lines in your document.

Another way to access this menu is to click Review on the Microsoft Word menu, then click Word.

It will be on the left side of the Review tab.

Finally, you can add word count options to the Quick Access Toolbar, a small menu of icons in the upper left corner of your screen.

To do this, open the Review tab again and right-click Word Count, then select Add to Toolbar for quick access.

A menu appears when you right-click the Word Reader option in Microsoft Word.

Once you select this, an icon like a series of lines with “123” below will appear in the app.

Click it to open the Word Count pop-up right away.